I know, I know....it seems like it has been a long time since I "blogged" but it just seems like time is standing still in the adoption world. With that being said here is the latest, hottest (is that even a word?) news:
December 02, 2009
We received referrals today for families with LIDs of March 29, 2006. According to the CCAA website, referrals went through March 31, 2006, making the current wait time approximately 44 months.
44 MONTHS!!!!!!! CAN YOU FRIGGIN' BELIEVE IT!!!!! I think elephants aren't even pregnant this long! With all this waiting, it has us thinking, are we really doing the right thing? Is there more that we could be doing?
Something came to my mind over Thanksgiving...something that has always been there but never really discussed, always too afraid I guess. Well, anyhow, I was surfing the web and ended up looking at foster kids on the internet (so many!). For one reason or another I felt a tugging in my heart for those with siblings in foster care. How awesome would it be to be able to keep a family together! Long story short, I went to church on Sunday and in our mailbox our Pastor had put a letter that he had received from the Childrens Service in our county looking for foster families. GOD WINK :)
GOD WINKS: Meaning the things that seem to be coincidental are really God's way of speaking to us.
So I am going to be giving this lady a call to see if we can set up a meeting with her to get a little more information and also to see if she will speak at our church.
We are still pursuing our adoption from China because I KNOW that God has that perfect little girl for us but in the meantime, who knows!!!!! Pray for us, for direction and for more GOD WINKS!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
November is here!
Can you believe that is is November already? Where has this year gone? As I look back over the referrals for this year it makes me want to cry! The end of January brought the referrals to March 2, 2006. And for October, they just referred through the LID of March 28, 2006! It has taken all year to get through one month! I know March was a HUGE month but c'mon! It seems like my patience is starting to wear thin....
We have talked about possibly trying to adopt a SN baby (special needs).....in fact we even found a little girl on the SN list that was 3 years old, cute as a button and the medical problems were really not that bad....but of course, when we checked to see if she was still available someone had already locked her in. So that is fustrating as well! I know that God has our child picked out for us....and I know in my heart that I just need to trust Him. Please keep us in your prayers...pray for peace, patience, wisdom and for the ability to hear God's voice when he speaks to us. Pray for all those children that are waiting for their forever families and please pray for their caregivers as well.
We have talked about possibly trying to adopt a SN baby (special needs).....in fact we even found a little girl on the SN list that was 3 years old, cute as a button and the medical problems were really not that bad....but of course, when we checked to see if she was still available someone had already locked her in. So that is fustrating as well! I know that God has our child picked out for us....and I know in my heart that I just need to trust Him. Please keep us in your prayers...pray for peace, patience, wisdom and for the ability to hear God's voice when he speaks to us. Pray for all those children that are waiting for their forever families and please pray for their caregivers as well.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
It has been awhile
I haven't forgot you all~it has just been a busy summer and not alot happening on the adoption front. To catch you up where we are in the adoption process, we just refiled for our immigration paperwork again. This is the third time of filing! The paperwork is only good for 18 months and if we let it lapse it would mean that we would be spending alot more money and doing alot more work! So in order to keep our paperwork current this is what we have to do! Right now the CCAA has referred babies through the LID date of March 24, 2006 (remember our LID date is December 31, 2006) so we have about 9 months of referrals to go through before they hit us. Just keep praying for us....for patience and for finances for the unexpected charges that we are finding as time goes by.
"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." James 1:2,3
"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." James 1:2,3
Thursday, July 16, 2009
How the Matching Process Works
In case anyone is interested, this is how the matching process works as explained by the Rumor Queen:
First, they review the baby dossiers and make sure there are no issues with them. We are told that they then count up all of the baby dossiers that are eligible for matching that month and then look to see how far this stack will go in the parent dossiers without sending out a partial day, and they pull all of those parent files. That is the likely cut-off date. Sometimes something happens and they don’t get this far. Sometimes something happens and they get farther.
Next they match orphanages up with agencies. This orphanage has six babies, this agency has six families. These two orphanages are in the same province and have a total of 12 babies, this agency has 12 families. When they are through with this is when (I believe) some agencies start to get information about the cut-off date. Or at least it is when they used to start getting information.
And then they start matching individual babies to individual families. At some point during this part of the process most agencies used to hear from their person in the matching room to let them know how many referrals they will be receiving and from what province(s). Some agencies shared this information with their clients. Some chose not to. Recently I’ve gotten the feeling that many agencies are still getting this information but they are being given orders by the CCAA to not share this information with the families.
Just as in the review room, each matcher is assigned certain agencies and is responsible for communicating with their agencies. Some matchers tell their agency the cut-off date, some matchers tell their agency “you have X number of referrals arriving”, some matchers give their agency a list of that agency’s families that will be receiving a referral. And some matchers don’t say anything at all to their agencies.
The next question that comes up is generally how the matchers match families and babies. I’ve heard from several people who have had the opportunity to speak with someone who works in the matching room. The various conversations seem to all agree that they first look for something that stands out: a matching birthday, a baby who looks a lot like a parent, or a baby who likes music and a parent who teaches music. Several matching people have stated they match by bone structure of the baby’s face and the parent’s faces (this is why they need our passport photos, so they can compare our mug shot with the baby’s mug shot). Some have stated that they used Chinese astrology, also. Once they’ve matched the obvious matches they then start to look at things like age of child requested. The age requested is not a priority for them, they feel they are matching families and not filling orders.
Someday, our little girl will be matched with us and I can't help but wonder what will be the matching factors......only God knows=)
First, they review the baby dossiers and make sure there are no issues with them. We are told that they then count up all of the baby dossiers that are eligible for matching that month and then look to see how far this stack will go in the parent dossiers without sending out a partial day, and they pull all of those parent files. That is the likely cut-off date. Sometimes something happens and they don’t get this far. Sometimes something happens and they get farther.
Next they match orphanages up with agencies. This orphanage has six babies, this agency has six families. These two orphanages are in the same province and have a total of 12 babies, this agency has 12 families. When they are through with this is when (I believe) some agencies start to get information about the cut-off date. Or at least it is when they used to start getting information.
And then they start matching individual babies to individual families. At some point during this part of the process most agencies used to hear from their person in the matching room to let them know how many referrals they will be receiving and from what province(s). Some agencies shared this information with their clients. Some chose not to. Recently I’ve gotten the feeling that many agencies are still getting this information but they are being given orders by the CCAA to not share this information with the families.
Just as in the review room, each matcher is assigned certain agencies and is responsible for communicating with their agencies. Some matchers tell their agency the cut-off date, some matchers tell their agency “you have X number of referrals arriving”, some matchers give their agency a list of that agency’s families that will be receiving a referral. And some matchers don’t say anything at all to their agencies.
The next question that comes up is generally how the matchers match families and babies. I’ve heard from several people who have had the opportunity to speak with someone who works in the matching room. The various conversations seem to all agree that they first look for something that stands out: a matching birthday, a baby who looks a lot like a parent, or a baby who likes music and a parent who teaches music. Several matching people have stated they match by bone structure of the baby’s face and the parent’s faces (this is why they need our passport photos, so they can compare our mug shot with the baby’s mug shot). Some have stated that they used Chinese astrology, also. Once they’ve matched the obvious matches they then start to look at things like age of child requested. The age requested is not a priority for them, they feel they are matching families and not filling orders.
Someday, our little girl will be matched with us and I can't help but wonder what will be the matching factors......only God knows=)
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Happy Birthday Mom
Today is my Mom's birthday....it would have been her 76th but I prefer to look at it like it is her 2nd birthday in heaven. She was the best Mom you could ever ask for. She was a warm, caring women...soft spoken unless you made her mad and then she didn't speak at all. (I do that too when I get mad and then it makes me think of my mom and how much I am like her) She was a strong christian woman who loved Jesus...her actions and her words told us that. She was a brave women when it came to the end...she was ready when she was called home. On this day especially, I miss her so much. I miss our phone conversations, I miss her rolling her eyes at something Dad said, I miss the way she would walk us to our car when we went to see her and how she would keep talking as if she didn't want us to go. I could say that I miss her brownies but my Dad has taken on the roll as the brownie baker. I will never forget the batch of brownies she made for us (or should I say made for Tony...she never really made them unless she knew Tony was coming to visit) and the shelf in her oven was cockeyed. Her brownies came out fat on one end and skinny on the other! They were still good! Oh, I do have great memories of my Mom! Happy Birthday Mom...I love you soooo much!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Nothing Official Yet
It looks like the referrals are finally here! The cut off date seems to be March 20th. Not too bad, not too good. At this rate though we may get our daughter in 4-5 years. Sometimes it just seems like it will never happen! This is an emotional roller coaster that we ride. It is hard to optimistic and it is frustrating! Please just keep us in your prayers!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Nothing New
At this time there is nothing (absolutely nothing) out there! No new rumors, no referrals, not even a report that the CCAA is matching at this time. The rumor queen is speculating that it could still have something to do with the swine flu but since we haven't heard too much about that lately it makes me wonder.
We are trying to get all the little projects done around our house. We just got our hot tub hooked up yesterday and boy was it nice last night! Painting seems to mostly done, just a few touch ups. Carpets have been cleaned (thanks to Mocca for pooping on the carpet!). Trying to figure out where we would like to go on vacation. (Yes, we definitely need a vacation!) That is what our summer has been like so far.
Other than that! NOTHING NEW!
We are trying to get all the little projects done around our house. We just got our hot tub hooked up yesterday and boy was it nice last night! Painting seems to mostly done, just a few touch ups. Carpets have been cleaned (thanks to Mocca for pooping on the carpet!). Trying to figure out where we would like to go on vacation. (Yes, we definitely need a vacation!) That is what our summer has been like so far.
Other than that! NOTHING NEW!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Swine Flu?
Sorry I haven't posted anything lately...with the scare of Swine Flu referrals were delayed for the month of May. This was sent out on May 21st from our agency:
May 21, 2009
We recently received referrals for families with LIDs of March 14, 2006. This makes the current wait time from LID 38 months.
This was posted on the Rumor Queen's Blog a few days before:
May 18th, 2009
Some agencies are still being told that paperwork (referrals, TA’s, etc) is not being sent due to the H1N1 swine flu.
Other agencies are still being told that the H1N1 swine flu is not affecting referrals or anything else and that they should be mailed out soon.
It is hard to say what caused the delay....I am just hoping that referrals for June will come at the first of the month as usual. Sometimes I can't believe how long we have waited already...... God has blessed us with so much, I know he will take care of Kara until that day we have her in our arms.
May 21, 2009
We recently received referrals for families with LIDs of March 14, 2006. This makes the current wait time from LID 38 months.
This was posted on the Rumor Queen's Blog a few days before:
May 18th, 2009
Some agencies are still being told that paperwork (referrals, TA’s, etc) is not being sent due to the H1N1 swine flu.
Other agencies are still being told that the H1N1 swine flu is not affecting referrals or anything else and that they should be mailed out soon.
It is hard to say what caused the delay....I am just hoping that referrals for June will come at the first of the month as usual. Sometimes I can't believe how long we have waited already...... God has blessed us with so much, I know he will take care of Kara until that day we have her in our arms.
Monday, April 27, 2009
New Exchange Student
We have decided to host another exchange student this year. We are hoping it will help the time pass more quickly until we can hold our daughter in our arms. This years exchange student is from Japan. Her name is Mari and she is 16 years old. She would like to become an interpreter so I think this will be a great experience for her. She was here in Ohio last summer with a three week exchange program and loved it. We are looking forward to hosting again.
On the adoption front, not much new happening right now. Rumors are the matching has begun so pray that there are alot of LID's in this batch!
On the adoption front, not much new happening right now. Rumors are the matching has begun so pray that there are alot of LID's in this batch!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
April Referrals
Posted in the Hot News from our adoption agency:
April 07, 2009
Referral and dossier review update:
Through the CCAA's on-line site for adoption agencies, we received the following update regarding the review of dossiers and placement of children:
Document Processing
The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before March 31, 2007.
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before March 08, 2006.
As I said before, March is a huge month according to the "Rumor Queen". Her blog is called China Adopt Talk and it is a great source for information, even if sometimes it is only rumors. Here is the latest rumor which I found interesting:
April 8th, 2009
We’ve talked before about how some orphanage directors are driven towards finding homes for the children under their care, while other directors are more worried about job security, and thus they want to keep enough kids around to justify their budget.
I’ve heard a rumor that the CCAA has made it clear to the directors that their job performance is no longer just going to be based on the state of the facilities and the number of children in those facilities. The CCAA has added a portion of the job performance that shows how many children the director helps find a permanent home.
Hopefully, this will give the orphanage directors incentive to get babies paper ready for international adoption! Please keep praying for us.
April 07, 2009
Referral and dossier review update:
Through the CCAA's on-line site for adoption agencies, we received the following update regarding the review of dossiers and placement of children:
Document Processing
The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before March 31, 2007.
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before March 08, 2006.
As I said before, March is a huge month according to the "Rumor Queen". Her blog is called China Adopt Talk and it is a great source for information, even if sometimes it is only rumors. Here is the latest rumor which I found interesting:
April 8th, 2009
We’ve talked before about how some orphanage directors are driven towards finding homes for the children under their care, while other directors are more worried about job security, and thus they want to keep enough kids around to justify their budget.
I’ve heard a rumor that the CCAA has made it clear to the directors that their job performance is no longer just going to be based on the state of the facilities and the number of children in those facilities. The CCAA has added a portion of the job performance that shows how many children the director helps find a permanent home.
Hopefully, this will give the orphanage directors incentive to get babies paper ready for international adoption! Please keep praying for us.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
April Referrals
It's April already and it looks like the rumors are starting to fly. From what I can tell, March 7th was a really big log in day. From what I have seen so far, the next batch of referrals may only go 2 days this month. I think the previous rumors has March as a huge month for LIDs. So, as soon as I hear something, you will be the first to know!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
March Referrals
Rumors are flying.....it looks like March 6th is in! Not so good though since the last referral date was through March 2. We will know more this week, I am sure.
It seems like our time will never come....so we have decided to host another exchange student for the next school year. We are planning on hosting a boy this time...hopefully one that is interested in sports, maybe music. We are looking forward to it! We had such a good time with Mer. We really miss her.
Well, time will tell as it always does...God's timing is still perfect. Our little one will come. Keep the prayers going up and the blessings will come down:)
It seems like our time will never come....so we have decided to host another exchange student for the next school year. We are planning on hosting a boy this time...hopefully one that is interested in sports, maybe music. We are looking forward to it! We had such a good time with Mer. We really miss her.
Well, time will tell as it always does...God's timing is still perfect. Our little one will come. Keep the prayers going up and the blessings will come down:)
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Happy Valentine's Day
Hope everyone had a great day with the one that they love! Tony and I spent our day together. Out to eat and shopping....it doesn't get much better than that!
Not much new on the adoption front right now. After the last referral, it has been pretty quiet. Hopefully the next time around we will see a tremendous pickup in between the LID dates. Please continue to pray for our adoption.
Not much new on the adoption front right now. After the last referral, it has been pretty quiet. Hopefully the next time around we will see a tremendous pickup in between the LID dates. Please continue to pray for our adoption.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Referrals
Well, it seems that the referrals did come but they only referred 2 (yes two!) days. This is the Hot News from our agency:
January 29, 2009
We recently received referrals for a few families that had recently come off of "hold" status. We did not receive referrals for our next LID group. The CCAA online system has not been updated yet; however, it appears as though referrals went through March 2, 2006. This makes the current wait time approximately 35 months.
I know that China was getting ready for their big holiday so this may be why the referrals was so small. Also the fact that they haven't changed their "box" to reflect the referrals may be due to the holiday as well. I am getting really down about the referrals but I am in it for the long haul. I believe that God has our baby already hand picked for us. Patience and faith...faith and patience, we are walking hand in hand with God on this....Kara, I know you are out there...we are coming for you, baby!
January 29, 2009
We recently received referrals for a few families that had recently come off of "hold" status. We did not receive referrals for our next LID group. The CCAA online system has not been updated yet; however, it appears as though referrals went through March 2, 2006. This makes the current wait time approximately 35 months.
I know that China was getting ready for their big holiday so this may be why the referrals was so small. Also the fact that they haven't changed their "box" to reflect the referrals may be due to the holiday as well. I am getting really down about the referrals but I am in it for the long haul. I believe that God has our baby already hand picked for us. Patience and faith...faith and patience, we are walking hand in hand with God on this....Kara, I know you are out there...we are coming for you, baby!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
It's a New Year
Well, the new year has come and we are already working our way through January. This is a tough month for my family...last year at this time we found out that my Mom had cancer. Three weeks later she went to be with her Lord and Savior. It was difficult to lose her so quickly but knowing that she did not suffer long, we are thankful and we praise God for taking her home. We take comfort in knowing that one day we will have a great big reunion when we all see heaven. Please just keep my Dad in your prayers...while he is doing good, I know that he misses Mom so much and this time has been especially hard on him.
Not much new on the adoption at this time. Just waiting on referrals as usual. The CCAA will be taking off for their Chinese New Year so we may see the referrals earlier than the norm. Soon as I hear something, I will be back on here. Take care everyone!
Not much new on the adoption at this time. Just waiting on referrals as usual. The CCAA will be taking off for their Chinese New Year so we may see the referrals earlier than the norm. Soon as I hear something, I will be back on here. Take care everyone!
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